So one of the albums that's been in heavy rotation on the iPod over the last few weeks is Dylan Sneed's album Texodus. His name caught my attention a couple of weeks ago when I was browsing the Roots Music Report. His 2007 EP release No Worse for the Wear is currently at number 40. "Texodus" the opening track of the album hooked me from the acoustic guitar intro and then came the really great lyrics and oh, well, my opinion of the album rises with each listen! Sneed is a native of Texas and lived and worked there up until 2008 when he moved his base of operations to a   100-year-old farmhouse in the low country of South Carolina. While he was in Texas he released four albums and EPs and The Dallas Observer praised his 2007 EP No Worse For The Wear as “one of the best local releases of the year.” and the Fort Worth Weekly dubbed Sneed's fourth release "epic."

But back to Texodus which was recorded in  a five day session in mid-April 2010. Dylan and a group of five friends worked day and night tracking the 14 songs that comprise the album. The amazing thing about the production is that Dylan had raised the money for the recording project over the previous two months through the website Kickstarter.com. Those fans who supported his career through those early years pledged 120% of the budget, as Dylan raised over $8,000 from donations on and off the website. From his Myspace page here's what some folks are saying about his music:

"the best side of true Americana: music of passion and skill that can move an audience with a whisper or a roar.” - The Dallas Observer
"Sneed’s songs give a contemporary spin to the Lone Star country and folk of Guy Clark, Steve Earle and others, coming out more like the acerbically literate North Carolina songwriters Jonathan Byrd or Malcolm Holcombe."   -Kevin Oliver of the SC Free Times

and the one I like the best:

"a sober Townes Van Zandt" (SC Free Times).

So as I'm listening to the album now to come up with my top tracks, once again it's all of them. Sneed is a terrific songwriter who knows how to turn a phrase and plays a mean acoustic guitar. So check out "Midnight Promenade" or "Climb the Wall" but don't miss "Selfish Boy"  or "Texodus" which may just hook you like it did me! Oh now "The Garden" is on that's a good track, too! Love the line:

"like I found the door and lost the key at the same time"

You can check out the album at CDBaby: Dylan Sneed3  or at his Myspace page


Here's Dylan performing "Midnight Promenade"